Networks and Security & E-Commerce and Security

Networks and Security

According to the US Census (2007 ) the volume of business-to-business commerce has increased from US 38 billion in 1997 to US 990 billion in 2006 increasing by 6 .3 percent . The stood at US 20 billion that increased to 990 billion in 2006 . It is predicted that by 2008 , online retail sales will account for 10 percent of Internet and online businesses but one main issue is security of online environment that is affecting businesses and users alike

Table 1 US E-Commerce

1999 US 20 .5 billion p

2006 US 990 billion

Source : US Census (2007

Today organisations , users and businesses all rely on Internet for various needs . The security threats have exploited all kinds of networks ranging from traditional computers to P2P and distributed networks These security threats have also exploited the vulnerable protocols and operating systems extending attacks to operating system on various kinds of applications such as database and web servers . These attacks often include deny of Service , Buffer overflow and worms causing more economic damage and running reputation of the corporations and organization alike

A report in USA Today (2006 ) has pointed out that cyber crime robs US Business about 67 .2 billions a year . Over the past two years , US consumers have lost US 8 billion to viruses and spyware in online fraud schemes . The practices of online fraudsters on one side are cheating online business on the other they are also increasing the perception of fear among online consumers . It is calculated that roughly 15 billion or 27 percent of projected e-commerce revenue went unspent in 2000 due to the fear of losing information . The reason for such loss is the lack of trust in online environment , which is enhanced due to fear of hacking and viruses

One common way of cheating people online is phishing . Phishing is normally done through email scam under various loopholes . One recent scam was US income tax related . An email message was sent to recipients that asked the taxpayers to claim a 572 tax refund online if they make tax submission online . The email message mentioned that the IRS encourages people to pay online to cut the waiting time . A number of users were hooked up as they submitted their personal information to a website that looked like IRS . Phishers are expert in using official language and logo that easily hook up innocent users . Such kind of email scams is not only loss for users but it also creates embracement for the organisation . The problem with such experience is that the cheated users find it hard to trust even the genuine email and websites (CNN , 2007

Trust is an important issue for any trade and business . In online environment it becomes more important as it is dealing with a faceless person . In virtual environment consumers cannot check the quality of a product , nor is it possibly to easily verify the claim made by sellers Playing on such perceived assumptions it is getting harder for online business...